Friction type lighter



y 9, 1953 w. D'ALTON 2,638,763

FRICTION TYPE LIGHTER Original Filed Aug. 30, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l v 2! Q1 '2 a a :3 2 3- s a o m \N\ NM QC \l OD VII/I711 9 r roam/5y y 9, W53 w. D'ALTON FRICTION TYPE LIGHTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 30, 1949 llmmmnmmml Pie. 6

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Patented May 19, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE August 30, 1949.

This application April 24,

1951, Serial No. 222,569. In France December Claims. (01. e7 e.1)

This application is a continuation of aban-' doned application Serial Number 113,140 filed August 30, 1949.

The present invention relates to improvements in pyrophoric or friction type lighters, that is, to lighters of the type comprising a primary source of thermal energy formed by a ferrocerium flint adapted to have particles ripped off it by an abrasive member, said particles being brought to an incandescent state by friction.

It is known that conventional lighters of this kind have in addition a secondary source of heat energy, which in a sense fulfills the function of a relay, and is usually formed by a wick fed with a suitable fuel such as petrol or a liquefied or solidified gaseous fuel, or further a German tinder or amadou wick. Such a lighter for its operation essentially relies on the production of sparks by the friction wheel rubbing against the ferro-cerium flint, and causing the projection of a somewhat dispersed fan-like shower or spray of incandescent ferro-cerium particles. As a result of such dispersion of the particles and due also to the fact that the direction and intensity of the spray of sparks depends on a rather large number of factors, especially on the manner in which the flint is presented to the friction wheel, on the bearing pressure of the flint against the friction wheel, as well as on the speed of rotation imparted to the latter, the operation of such lighters, as is well known, is highly uncertain.

The object of the present invention is a pocket lighter wherein the tobacco (cigarettes or pipes) is ignited directly by the ferro-cerium particles stripped from the flint by an abrasive member, without using a wick fed by an auxiliary fuel such as petrol, or an amadou wick. Lighters for directly igniting easily inflammable materials, such as gas or flash powders (for instance magnesium) by sparks stripped from a flint have been already proposed. Lighters of this type comprise a casing containing a rotating abrasive wheel against which the flint is pressed and a relatively long discharge tube leading from the interior of the casing to a trough fixed to the outer wall of the casing and containing the powder to be ignited said tubing being arranged to receive the sparks stripped from the flint and to project them on this inflammable powder. However such a device is unable to ignite materials which are not so easily inflammable as flash powder, for instance tobacco, even if a concentrated and directed jet of sparks is obtained by means of the discharge tube. The

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reason is that the particles of ferro-cerium are instantaneously ignited when stripped from the flint and burn during their path from the flint to the material to be ignited so that when impacting on said material they do not bring to that material a sufficient quantity of heat which is necessary to cause the ignition. It is for instance well known that if a shower of sparks is obtained by applying a piece of iron against a rotating grind stone it is sometimes possible to ignite therewith very inflammable gaseous or liquid substances but it is practically impossible to ignite therewith a solid material such as paper or tobacco, for the time of combustion of the particles of iron is very short and still shortened due to the high velocity with which they are displaced in the air.

Assuming for instance that the complete instantaneous combustion of a particle of iron having a mass of 0.1 mg. evolves instantaneously a quantity of heat of 4 small calories with an instantaneous rise of temperature up to 800; assuming further that a small quantity of tobacco must receive to be ignited a thermal. energy or 1 small calorie during 4 seconds at a temperature of 200, it is clear that said quantity of tobacco will not be ignited by the combustion of the said iron particle which will instantaneously supply a thermal energy of 4 small calories, but it will be very easily ignited by the same energy supply distributed over 4 seconds.

The time of combustion of particles of ferrocerium depends upon the following factors:

The size of the particles: the combustion will be longer if the volume of the particles is higher.

The quantity of air or oxygen supplied to the particles during their combustion.

The velocity with which the particles is pro- J'ected for its friction in the air produces a rise of temperature which increases withthe velocity.

One of the objects of the present invention is to produce a. controlled combustion of particles of ferro-cerium stripped from a flint by an abrasive member in order to make possible the ignition of tobacco.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the speed of combustion of particles of ferrocerium in order to allow a sufliciently slow liber- A further object of the invention is to make 7 possible the use of flints of greatly increased length over that of the flint generally heretofore.

Still another object of the invention is to] control the pressure exerted by the flint on the abrasive member in order to provide ferro-cerium particles of substantially constant size in order to avoid large; variationsoi the time oicombustion.

'With these and other objects in view, the pocket lighter according to the invention comprises a casing, walls forming a substantially" closed chamber within said casing an abrasive member and a flint positioned to bear on said member, driving means operable fromtheoutside' of said casing, to impart to sa id abrasive member and flint a relative movement, substantially the entire volume of said chamber beingoccupie d by the member to which the movement is imparted by said driving means, a short discharge duct opening in said chamber in position to re: ceive particles stripped by said abrasive member from said flint,ia 1r enlarged ueaprovided on the" outer end of saidducttd receive the" end' or a cigarette in relatively sealed relationship;

A" anther feature of my invention is th'e'p'ro vision: of an'iair inlet duct in'the chamber. The Q purpose of this inlet is to permita limited flow of air through the chamber into a cigarette due to' axsuct'ioneX'erted-by the smoker upon the other end of the cigarette, thus allowing a rapid ignition of the tobacco.

Due to the fact that the abrasive member substantially fills the chamber arranged in the casing and to the restricted air inlet duct, the quantity of air available for feeding the combustion of the ierro-cerium" particles stripped from th'e flint is limited, so that this combustion is relatively slow; the duct transmitting said particles" to' the: surface of the tobacco to be ignited being short, the particles strike the tobacco berorethe end of their combustion 50 said a. sufficient'quantity of th'ermal energy remains available for heating and igniting the tobacco.

A lighter constructed as just described is ca.- pable of two alternative types of operation. In a first type of operation the tip of the cigarette having been introduced in; or the bowl of the pipe being applied to the enlarged outlet of the discharge du'ct, there is first imparted to the abrasive wheel a relatively slow rotation adapted to cause terro -cerium particles to be stripped off r without being ignited, said particles then dropping upon the surface ofthe tobacco;- thereafter a quick impulse is imparted to the friction wheel effective to project upon the tobacco surface: ig-

nited fer'ro-cerium particles which cause ignition r of the particles already present upon the tobacco which later then becomes ignited in turn. cording to: another form of operation, a rapid rotation is immediately imparted to the-friction wheel and a suction is simultaneously exerted by the smoker upon the cigarette or pipe. This suction produces a depression in the discharge duct and in the chamber containing the abrasive wheel, resulting in that the oxygen supplied to the particles stripped from the flint is reduced so that said particles strike the tobaccobefore their complete combustion and are able to, ignite the tobacco. Furthermore, when imparting rapidrotationto the abrasive wheel; the speed of rotation obviously increases rapidly from zero to a certain value, so that the flrstparticles stripped from the flint when the rotation is started, are projected in a not ignited state on the surface formed therein a shallow chamber 2 in the'fornr ell) of the tobacco and are ignited only by iurther projection of already ignited particles stripped 4 from the flint when the speed of rotation reaches a high value, so that the whole thermal energy evolved by the combustion of said first particles is utilized, as in the first case, for igniting the tobacco.

Toprovide a fuller understanding of my inventiori the'rewill' now be described, byway of illustrating rather than limitation; one form of embodiment of direct-ignition lighter devoid of any source of secondary energy, according to my invention; with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the lighter on an enlarged scale and wherein:

Fig. 1 shows the lighter in vertical section with anew flint therein,

Fig. 2 isa vertical cross sectional view on line 11-11 ofFig. l, the flint being shown as having a certain amount of wear,

Fig. Bis a Vertical cross sectional view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a flint which is nearly completely worn out, 1

Fig. 4* illustrates in perspective exploded view the parts cooperating to mount the abrasive wheel, 1

Fig. 5simil'arly illustrates the parts cooperating to drive the friction wheel in rotation,

Fig. 6 shows in vertical perspective view the flint controlling mechanism,

Fig '7 shows in vertical elevation and in section the various parts.- making up'the assembly" of Fig. 6, in disassembled'conditions;

As shown in the drawings and more especially in Figs. 1 and 2, the body l of the lighter has of a flat cylinder in which ism'ounted an abrasive wheel 3- on a" spindle or pivot l, there being a relatively small annular gap 5 between the pe riphery of the abrasive wheel and the-cylindrical wall of the chamber 2. The chamber 2 communicates with a cylindrical recess 6 formed through the lighter body. l, through a bore 7 through which aflint 8 is' adapted to be fed into engagement with the wheel 3. The chamber 2 also communicates with the exterior, first through a discharge duct 9 for the ferro-cerium particles stripped o'ffthe flint 8 by the abrasive wheel 3, and in the second place through an air inlet duct [0. The discharge duct 9 terminates in a cylindrical recess ll forming an outlet opening or socket in which is mounted a metal bushing or ring I2 having an outer enlarged portion projection beyond the outer surface of the lighter, and allowing thev outlet ll of the duct 9 to be conveniently centred in the bowl of a pipe; Within the ring l2 there is also mounted an annular member l3 having the general configuration clearly shown in Fig. 3' for insertion of acigarette end tc' be ignited.

My invention includes means enabling the abrasive wheel to be rotated by imparting to its drive spindle a rotary reciprocatory motion, thereby greatly iacilitating operation of the lighter and for this purpose the abrasive wheel 3 is mounted upon its spindle 4! through the interposal of a freewheel drive. "Io that end, the spindle 4 carries a flan e i l in the periphery of which suitable camming inclines i5, i5, i5 are machinedto receive suitable ball or roller elements such as l6, l6, l6" (Figs l and 4 while the abrasive wheel is formed with; a cylindrical recess l1 the peripheralwall of which provides a runway or race for said balls or rollers. A washer I8 serves to retain the balls in position and the whole assembly is retained between the bearings l9, [9 of the'spindle 4 by means of screw plug 20, threaded into the cylindrical recess 2| formed,

in the lighter body, and an element 22 screwed over the threaded end 23 of the spindle 4. The element 22 has a collapsible key ZB (Fig. 5) pivoted to it by means of pins 24 projecting into sockets 25, 25 formed in the element. 22; the key 26 in idle condition is retractable into a housing recess 21 formed in the rear face of the body I. Within the key member 25 there is a longitudinal bore 30 which houses a spring-urged plunger 28 with its actuating spring,29.. When the key 26 is swung downwardly about its pivots 24, 24' to its retracted condition, the plunger 28 engages the fiat under-face of member 22 thereby releasably locking the key in its retracted position. M I

Similarly when the key has been swung to its extended or projecting positions of Fig. 2, the plunger 28 engages the face of member 22 (see Fig. 5). It will readily be seen that in this. extended condition of the key, the latterlmay be rotated or twirled back and forth as between.

thumb and finger, thereby similarly rotating back and forth the member 22 and spindle 4, which through the one-way drive device previously described will impart a one-way rotation to abrasive.

wheel 3.

As previously mentioned, the fiint 8 used are into the chamber 2 by a bushing 31 mounted in the bore 1 which connects the chamber 2 with the central recess 6, said bushing being made of a suitable heat resisting metal, quenched and ground to shape. The bushing is formed with a taper inlet 32 for a purpose to be described later.

The flint 8 is held in engagement against the abrasive wheel (Figs. 1, 6 and 7).by a rod 33 carrying a piston-like flange 34 thereon slidable in a cylinder 35 containing a spring 36 which engages at one of its ends the under side of the piston 34 and at its opposite end the bottom member 31 of the cylinder 35, said bottom member being formed as a part crimped in the lower end of the cylinder and provided on its underside with a hemispherically-shaped boss. It will be seen that as a result of the above arrange ment the expansion stroke of the spring is restricted by engagement of the piston or flange 34 against the top of the cylinder 35; if the expansion stroke is provided equivalent in value to about one tenth the length of the spring, the spring remaining still compressed at the end of said stroke, a practically constant bearing pressure will be obtained. Upon the spring reaching its fully expanded condition as a result of the wear on the flint, the spring may be restored to its initial compressed condition by the following means: the cylinder 35 is itself mounted for sliding movement within a tubular member 39 housed in the recess 6 of the lighter and the member 39 is rotatable by means of an actuating knob 40 rigid therewith. About the tube 39 there is freely mounted an externally threaded bush 4! engaging complementary threads formed over part of the length of the cylindrical recess 6. The bush 4| is provided with a diametrically extending cross-pin 42 which extends through a diametrically-opposed pair of longitudinal grooves 43, 43', formed in the wall of the tube 39. It will readily be seen that if the tube 39 is rotated by means of knob 40, the bush 4| is moved in rotation by the rod 42 and is forced up through the recess 6 as a result of its threaded engagement therewith, thereby pushing the cylinder 35 upwards through the actionof the rod42 upon, which the boss 38 providedat the bottom of cyl inder 35 bears. In order to. facilitate fiintreplacement, the flint is connected with therod 33 by a small rubber tube 44. When the flint is worn out to such a great extent that therod34 projects into the bushing 3! the rubber tube will be forced back "by the bushing andpushed back alongthe rod 34, as clearly. shown in Fig. 3.

From the bottom face of the lighter body I,

upwardly extending bores 45, 451 are formed. around the central recess 6, to serve as a maga zine for storing spare flint elements. These bores are sealed by a common resilient metaldisc 46. It may be seen from the above disclosure that my improved lighter possesses the outstanding.

without having to place the cigarette in ones mouth during the lighting operation. Finally, the improved mounting of the friction Wheel and the flint results in a perfectlysmoothoperation of this device, which only may be compared in this respect to high p-recisionmechanisms.

It will of course be understood that an improved lighter constructed according to my invention may be supplied withany suitable automatic actuating device of conventionally used type, wherein rotation of the abrasive wheel. may be caused by action of a preliminary cockedspring, or the like. i i i It is to be understood that my invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment and to the constructional. details thereof as illustrated and described, and modifications may bemade Within its scope as defined by the ensuing claims.

Throughout the specification and claims, the

word flint has for the sake of brevity beenused to designate any suitable composition adapted, upon frictional engagement with a. steel friction wheel, to.. have a. great number of minute particles ripped off its surface andbrought to an incandescent state by the heat generated. Ferrocerium is one well-known example of such compositions. 1 w H i i What I claim is:

l. A pocket lighter comprising a casing, walls forming a substantially closed, fiat cylindrical chamber within said casing, a rotatable abrasive wheel mounted in said chamber and dimensioned to occupy substantially its whole volume, means connected to said wheel and operable from the exterior of the casing for rotating said Wheel, a flint positioned to bear on said wheel, means for pressing said flint, against said wheel, a short discharge duct opening in said chamber at a point adjacent to the flint and disposed in substantially tangential relation with said chamber to receive the pyrophoric particles stripped by the abrasive Wheel from the flint, an enlarged outlet provided on the outer end of said duct for receiving the end of a cigarette with a snug fit, a restricted conduit connecting said chamber with the exterior at a point substantially opposite to that of the discharge duct, whereby pyrophoric particles may be drawn through said duct and into said outlet without receiving an unrestricted supply of air.

S131 E,- Whiliii expansion" of Said Spring is re- U stii "era 16y abutment 01" said flange against the flip df said eylinder; and means forbddily shift ing, said cylinder with said spring therein in warns by an'amount' equivalent tdthe difference length" of Said spfih'g fIiSn-i its" cdntrifie'd 150' its? expanded: condition after the amount ofwe'ar ofsaid flinth'as -caused si1ch abutment".

4 A pocket lighter as in" claim 1 wherein said constanfi 'faressure' flint ap'plying means comprises a cylindrical rec'e'ss i-rr said casing, a cylinder shortei" in axial extent than said recess axially movable therein; a spring in said cylinder acting atitsduter' e'nd against the cylindef'bottom; a fiirit -"ac tuatinga' ro'cr extending into' said cylinder through an aperture'in the inner end thereof and having a fiange' in said eylindeir serving as: abut ment for the inner end of said spring, said flange 

